Online Casino Score

Over its many years in business, the English Harbour Group has provided players with many popular games from Vegas Technology. Unfortunately the first sign of an issue occurred in May 2011 when the group was found to be directly linked to the Black Friday events in the United States. Following the incident, an announcement was released, “E.H. Gaming Ventures closed all of its casinos to new player registrations on May 16, 2011. The casinos remain open to existing players.”

Casino Settling

However, all brands of the group including, Millionaire Casino, Caribbean Gold Casino, VIP Slots Casino and Silver Dollar Casino continued providing regular promotions and events. At this point online gambling experts believed that the casino had settled down despite the minor inconvenience. Apparently this was not the case.

Finding Alternative Payment Options

In a post given by an English Harbour representative on July 8th, 2011 at a public online casino forum, the casino was said to be operating as planned for the customer. As a result of the events that have occurred in the United States the past several months, many online gaming sites are facing the challenges of offering reliable deposit options. Therefore, the group was attempting to function normally during this time with the hope of finding alternative payment options.

Closure of Brands

It comes as a complete surprise that all English Harbour online casinos are announcing a closure on their homepages. The notice at each brand states, “We recommend that you play out your balance or request a payout prior to August 1st. In the event that you have any questions please contact customer support. We would like to thank you for your loyalty through the years.”

Continued Operation

At this moment, the United Kingdom version of the English Harbour Group is functioning normally without this announcement. Similar UK domains are functional but others are not. It almost appears as if the English Harbour Group is eliminating .com domains which are controlled by the United States but is trying to keep all other domains functioning. Hopefully the operator will issue a statement to its players informing them of their intentions.

The English Harbour Group and subsequent casino brands have been around for a long time. Therefore, it would be a shame to see them close down. However, since the United Kingdom versions are still functional, perhaps there is hope for their continued operation after all.

Experts have noticed a lull in online gaming software development during the month of May 2011. As the close of the month approaches, the number of new games released has been below the average compared with previous years. It has not yet been revealed whether this is a coincidence or the calm before the storm.

Microgaming

In the past, Microgaming has been the first provider to release new games each month. These games are typically launched toward the end of the first week or beginning of the second week. Also, new games are usually announced a month before release. Unfortunately there were no new announcements in April for May.

This is likely due to the Grand Slam of Slot II Tournament, hosted by Microgaming. The company does not want to divert attention away from the competition. Since the tournament ends in at the beginning of June, there may not be any additional slot games released for that month either.

Cryptologic

Cryptologic has also not released any new games. However, the company has not gone live with any new slots for the past six months on account of its current financial rough patch. Cryptologic is beginning to turn around its finances as is evident by the announcement of a new super hero slot game with a time period that is to be determined.

Vegas Technology

On the other hand, Vegas Technology has been releasing games at a rate of one per month. The games usually go live in the third or fourth week of each month without an announcement. Therefore, it is unlikely the developer will skip a month for no reason so a game should be released soon.

Rival Gaming

Additionally, Rival Gaming has not yet released any games in May but March and April had several new games. In March, Rival Gaming released four new additions to their 3D series and April saw three new video slot games. Perhaps the company has decided to take a month off with releases and begin fresh in June.

WagerWorks

Finally, WagerWorks is known to release one game per month but has been known to skip months. The developer’s last release was March 2011. Therefore, a new game should be in the works. WagerWorks has a reputation for releasing high quality games and is not known for quantity. With a lull in the action for May, it is likely June will bring many new games.

There are currently several online slot games that boast a Las Vegas-theme. The latest addition is the Hot Roller online slot game from Vegas Technology. Set with the Las Vegas Strip as the background, the title of the game is displayed with a neon sign. The symbols on the reels transport the player into the casino. These symbols include:

Stacks of chips

Welcome drink

Lady hot roller

Pair of dice

High value card symbols

Although a slot game, the represented table game is craps so the most important symbols are the lady hot roller and a pair of dice. The lad shooter represents the wild symbol which yields the highest payout of 10,000 coins. This character also doubles all payouts when it acts as a wild symbol. The animation of the lady hot roller is impressive as she kisses the dice for good luck prior to taking the shot.

The pair of dice feature hot flames and act as the scatter symbol. Aside from the lady hot roller icon, this is the only other symbol that showcases animation. When two of more scatter symbols appear on the reels, scatter payouts are given. These payouts are multiplied by the total bet to convert them to casino credits.

Three or more of these symbols activates the free spins bonus round. This game begins when the layer rolls a single white die and two red dice. The white die awards the free spins multiplier which ranges from 1x to 6x. The values on the red dice are then multiplied to give the total number of free spins which varies from 1 to 36. This round can be retriggered during play but the multiplier and number of free spins cannot be determined for a second time.

Vegas Technology also recently launched a slot game entitled, “Vegas Party”, which features the same Vegas-theme. The symbols on the reels are fairly similar to those in Hot Roller. Vegas Party also features a free spins bonus round but it is much easier.

Hot Roller went live at all Vegas Technology-powered online casinos simultaneously. The most popular include, Go Casino, Grand Vegas and Online Vegas. These two Vegas-style online slot games appear to be exciting and innovative additions to the Vegas Technology portfolio of games. Stop by any one of the large number of Vegas Technology online casinos to try your luck in a glamorous environment.

Recently released in time for Easter from online gaming software developer Vegas Technology, Fairies Forest evokes the idea of mythical and magical creatures. The reels of the game are settled amongst a forest featuring a variety of exotic flowers. The thematic symbols found on those reels include, magic potion, bird, flower and toadstool. The bird provides the highest payout of 5,000 coins. High value card symbols are also present.

The Fairy Symbol

True to its name, the fairy is of course the most important symbol in the game. This icon only appears on reels 2-4 and acts as a substitute for all other characters with the exception of the forest symbol. The fairy is known as an expanding wild symbol and emerges from the game to magically convert three symbols on the reel. This will only occur in the instance of a winning combination.

The Free Spins Bonus Round

The scatter symbol is represented by the forest and must appear from left to right in order to provide those scattered payouts. Five forest symbols award the player 100 coins. When this occurs, fairies emerge from the illuminated forest. Three or more forest icons will trigger the free spins feature which grants the player 12 free spins. Payouts during this bonus round are multiplied by five. This feature can be retriggered through the round.

Other Important Game Information

Fairies Forest offers 25 paylines with the ability to wager one coin per payline. The coin denominations range from $0.01 to $10. Therefore, players will all budgets will be able to participate and enjoy Fairies Forest. Also, players have the ability to disable the animations on reels that do not spin. This significantly speeds the game up, especially when the Auto Play feature is activated. Auto Play allows for 500 spins to occur without manual interference.

Available at all Vegas Technology Casinos

Fairies Forest has gone live at all Vegas Technology online gaming sites so there are many places to find the game. Some of the best casinos to play the game can be found in the English Harbour Group and include, Millionaire Casino, VIP Slots Casino and Silver Dollar Casino.

Fairies Forest is a visually stunning slot game coupled with crisp graphics and innovative features. The game has already become quite popular at many online casinos. Stop by one of many Vegas Technology online casinos to try your hand at Fairies Forest slot game.

Vegas Technology, one of the leaders in online gaming developed, recently released a new video poker game. This is the first time the company has gone live with a game that is not a variant of slots. Known as, Bump-It-Up, the game places an innovative twist on video poker. The chosen video poker variant is Jacks or Better.

Multi-hand Video Poker

The players have the option of playing four hands at the same time. However, Bump-It-Up pays out in double multiples which differ from most multi-hand video poker games. For instance, the second hand pays 2x, the third hand pays 4x and the fourth hand pays out 8x the normal winnings. The catch is the player must beat each level to advance to the next multiplier. The coin size varies between $0.01 and $5.00 with players selecting up to four wagers.

Therefore, if a player chooses to bet on all hands with four $5.00 coins per bet, the maximum wager is $80 which will be immediately deducted from the player’s casino balance. The payout table is available at all video poker games and is displayed in coins as per the number of coins wagered. There is a direct correlation between the number of coins wagered and the payout.

Winning the Game

After the betting denomination is placed, the player clocks the Deal button followed by the distribution of cards. Like most other video poker games, the player can hold specific cards and eliminate those that do not help their hand. If no winning hand combination is determined in the first round, the game is over and the player loses all wagers (even those placed for four hands).

On the other hand, if there is a win in the first round, the player will advance to the second and automatically keep the initial winnings. At this point, the payouts are doubled, based on the payout chart. As the player progresses, the winnings are multiplied for that level. If the player loses at any level, they cannot progress to the next round be do keep their accumulated winnings.

Doubling Up

Another option is to double the accumulated winnings. On the winners screen, there is a button titled Double. This is a bonus game of sorts in which the player is dealt four cards, three down, one up. The player must select any of the face down cards and will win if that card is of higher value than the face up card. A loss results in the player losing all bets.

This game puts an innovative spin on a classic betting game. The addition of multipliers makes this game extremely fun and can be highly profitable. Look for this game at all Vegas Technology casinos.

Vegas Technology recently released Wataa, a martial arts-themed online slot game. The symbols have been designed in a comic fashion which is fairly typical among martial arts-themed slot games. The two primary characters in the game are Charlie and Trevor which act as wild symbols. Charlie is a cat that only appears on reels two and four. Trevor is a large, bulky guy that appears only on reel three.

Of the two animations, Charlie is the most active and makes quick moves. On the other hand, Trevor appears to be most interested in consuming junk food. Neither symbol provides line payouts or act as multipliers as commonly found with wild symbols in other games. The highest line payout is 5,000 coins which can be obtained by aligning five Ninja symbols in a payline. Other animated symbols include:

Chain

Book

Dummy

High value ace to nine cards

The burger

Although not related directly to martial arts, the burger symbol is a favorite of the two characters and acts a scatter icon. Two or more burgers on any of the reels provide scatter payouts multiplied by the total bet. Three or more burgers trigger free spins bonus round which offers 15 free spins.

Extras include the Charlie feature and the Trevor feature. The Charlie feature triggers up to three free spins per Charlie symbol on any reel. The Trevor feature increases the possibility of getting winning paylines. Additionally, all wins are multiplied by 5x, 8x or 10x. In summary, those looking for an increase in the number of spins should attempt to acquire the Charlie feature while those who want multiplied payouts should opt for the Trevor feature.

Wataa is a 25 payline online slot game with players only permitted to wager a single coin with a maximum denomination of $10. Therefore, the maximum line bet is $10 with the maximum line payout being 5,000 coins which converts to $50,000. The maximum total bet within the game is $250 with a maximum scatter payout of 100 coins which equates to $25,000. The game is now available at all Vegas Technology online casinos.

Watta is an interesting game that is based on martial arts but has other features you wouldn’t expect. The regular payouts are quite large compared to many other online slot games. Next time you are in a Vegas Technology-powered online casino, try your luck at this intriguing and exciting game.

English Harbour online casino recently released one of the most widespread tournament schedules in the history of gaming. They plan to offer daily, weekly and monthly tournaments to their players. Many tournaments have guaranteed prize pools as well as tournaments with a pot provided by the player’s entrance fee. Online slots, video poker and blackjack will all be offering tournament play.

If you are not content with any of these options, English Harbour has added an additional tournament. Their website reads, “This weekend, join us for what we hope will become a tradition at English Harbour – the Big Free Weekend. From the 28th-31st of January we’re hosting the largest free slots tournament online with $1,000 in prizes! Featuring Fire Hawk slots, this is an event not to be missed and it’s only at English Harbour!”

This tournament is listed in the Freeroll Slots Tournaments at the English Harbour gaming menu. Up to this point, the schedule has featured daily tournaments featuring a prize pool of $300 with a different slot game for each day to keep the experience interesting. The games played per day are as follows:

Monday – City of Gold

Tuesday – Big Foot

Wednesday – Love Bugs

Thursday – Big Time

Friday – Hurdy Gurdy

Saturday – Butterflies

Sunday – La Cucaracha

An additional interesting tournament series, aptly titled, “Take the Afternoon Off”, runs from 1PM to 6PM which is the ideal time for those without a 9 to 5 job to cash in. The entrance fee is only $3 with the winners sharing the total pot. The selected game for the January 27th tournament is Dr. Love and Vegas Party for January 28th.

Those who are night owls can look forward to a similar tournament which begins at 11PM and runs until 3:30AM. The tournament structure is the exact same with different slot gaming titles. The selected games are Money Shot on January 27th and Super Market on January 28th.

Licensed by the Directorate of Offshore of Antigua, English Harbour is powered by Vegas Technology with all slot games used in the tournaments developed by them as well. These tournaments are historical with regards to quantity, total amount of prizes, participation numbers and the overall size of many of the competitions. If you are a tournament player, this is the moment you have been waiting for all your life – a month full of almost non-stop tournament play.

The Vegas trip has been postponed! You can’t make it to Atlantic City! Your yacht is in the shop otherwise you would likely head straight to Monaco! The fact is you can’t make it to any casino that is shaped like a pyramid, the Taj Mahal, a lion’s head or the New York skyline. The only casino that you can manage to get to at the moment is on the internet. At last count there were just over one billion online casinos to choose from! Which ones are safe? Here are a couple of things to consider when choosing an online casino.

Reputable Software

Much like the brick and mortar casinos, online casinos offer hundreds of games to choose from depending on what you want to play. Whether your game is poker, craps, blackjack, slots, or roulette the online casino requires you to download gaming software in order to begin play. Any download that you use, in any application, puts your computer at risk of infection from viruses.

Before you download the casino’s game do some research to determine what company provides this particular casino with their gaming software. The more reputable and established the software company the less risk is involved. The leaders in this industry have proven year in and year out that they are a trustworthy source and provide a solid product complete with customer support. Currently some of the top providers of gaming software for online casinos are Microgaming, Playtech, Boss Media, Gambling Software.com, Net Entertainment, Party Gaming, Vegas Technology, and Cryptologic. These companies comprise the arguable A list of software providers mainly based on their longevity, quality, and defining role in so many online casinos.

Secure Deposits

Online casinos of course want your money! Before you choose the casino that you’re going to gamble at be sure to have a full understanding of how they take your money. If the casino only offers one way to set up an account perhaps that casino is not for you. Most reputable and thus secure casinos will offer a variety of ways to establish an account.

Arguably the safest method to deposit your money into the casino is with your own credit card or debit card. This method gives you the most control and will also usually mean instant approval from the casino. Ewallet is an established and proven way to transact deposits over the internet and acts as an online wallet. Neteller is a form of ewallet that is widely trusted among the online gambling industry and can be funded directly with a credit card or debit card. The bottom line is that you feel that the casino is providing a safe environment to complete monetary transactions over the internet.

Doing a little homework will allow you a safe and rewarding online gambling experience.

As a new player to the online gaming community, it is important you realize not all casinos offer the same promotions, games, software, reliability and security. Like any other type of service, some are better than others. This article gives you further incite that will help you make decisions as to where to play so you can focus on having fun and playing your favorite games.

One of the first points is whether the casino is powered by a reputable software provider. Since not all casinos utilize the same software, it is important to play at a site that is powered by trusted platforms. The relationship between an online casino and software provider is give and take. On the one hand a casino wants a reputable software developer to create their software. On the other, the software providers do not want to tarnish their name by issuing licenses to rogue companies.

Some of the most trusted online casino software developers include:

Microgaming

Vegas Technology

Realtime Gaming

Playtech

Cryptologic

Wager Works

Wizard Gaming

Rival Gaming

The next important point to consider is the jurisdiction in which the online casino is licensed. Since casinos are serious about their business they try to acquire a license in a reputable jurisdiction which is not an easy task. Typically these jurisdictions have tough background checks to ensure an operator is trustworthy and will be a positive representative of that country. There are many jurisdictions globally, some more reputable than others with the most popular being:

Gibraltar

Malta

Antigua

Khanawake

Curacao

Isle of Man

The final point of research is to ascertain when the casino was established. Those that have been around the longest have proven their reliability in the industry. The rule of thumb is those that were established between 1996 and 2004 are a reputable brand. Of course there are exceptions but this is a good rule to follow.

This does not mean you should rule out newer casinos as many have innovative ideas and new features not found at the older sites. Therefore, the best way to judge various casinos is through research and forums. Read about other user’s experiences and the advantages and disadvantages of each online casino. Searching for the best casinos with the best features and promotions is a time-consuming task but when you find the right one, the benefits are numerous.

Almost all online gaming software providers offer some variant of blackjack at their casinos. However, many of these games differ slightly so each blackjack game must be treated individually. Vegas Technology casinos offer four variants of blackjack. Therefore, there is a different method of play for each version.

Two variations of Vegas Technology blackjack are based on land casino rules. These are:

European rules blackjack

Vegas Strip blackjack

In both of these games, the dealer is required to stand on all 17’s. However, the difference lies with the no hole card rule. In European blackjack, the dealer is dealt their second card face down but never checks for blackjack. In Vegas Strip blackjack the dealer always checks the face down card if the face up card is an ace, ten or face card. If the dealer is distributed blackjack, the player loses and the hand is over.

Between the two versions, there is only a slight difference to the amount lost by a blackjack hand; either the player loses their wager at the beginning or the end. In European blackjack, the player has an opportunity to lose additional wagers since the dealer’s blackjack is revealed at the end. On the other hand, in Vegas Strip blackjack, the player will only lose their original bet to blackjack. This equates to a 0.1 percent advantage when playing Vegas Strip blackjack.

The other two games offered by Vegas Technology are specifically designed for online play. These games are:

Perfect Pairs

Progressive Blackjack

In Perfect Pairs, regular blackjack proceeds as usual, however, a side bet is placed for perfect pairs. The side bet pays 5-to-1 for a mixed pair, 10-to-1 for a colored pair and 30-to-1 for a perfect pair which is a hand identical in rank and suit. This is made possible by the 8 decks used in the game. The house edge for Perfect Pair 3.37 percent compared to less than 1 percent in the main game. Therefore, the side bet has proven to be a tremendous waste of money.

Finally, Progressive Blackjack offers an optional $1 bet toward a progressive jackpot. This pays out when the first four cards dealt are aces of the same suit. There are additional payouts for other ace combinations. The house edge is tremendously high in progressive blackjack games with a low payout.

These four variants add more excitement to the traditional game of blackjack. Most of these extras are not worth the additional bet but can be fun to participate in on occasion. Overall, these versions of blackjack still have a lower house edge than slots!